Rail car front end construction



Sept. 23, 1941. 'E. w. .QAG'SDALE Em 2 256,493

RAIL CAR FRONT END CONSTRUCTION Filed April 13, 1934 e Sheets-Sheet l n f A TTORNEY.

INVENTORS EARLlWRAas AL'z ALBERT GDEAN- WALTER.B.D.EAN

p 23, 19417 E. J. w. RAGSDALE ET AL 2,256,493

RAIL CAR FRONT END CONSTRUCTION Filed April '15, 1934 -6 Sheets-Sheet 2 M m.. Y

am MAW WT m A JR L E L MB EA M 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 E. J. w. RAGSDALE ETAL RAIL CAR FRONT END CONSTRUCTION Filed April 13, 1934 Sept. 23, 1941;]

INVENTORS EARLJWRAGSDALE ALBERTCLDEAN y WALTERB DEAN I & ATTORNEY.

p 194-1 E. J. w. RAG-SDALE ET AL 2,256,493

' RAIL CAR FRONT END CONSTRUCTION Filed April 1s,' 1954 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS: EARLIWRAGSQALE ALBERT C1 DEAN BY WALTER.B.DEAN.

flf W I I ATTORNEY.

Sept. 23, 1941- I E. J. w. RAGSDALE ET AL 2,256,493

RAIL CAR FRONT END CONSTRUCTION Filed April 13, 1934 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 WWW 1' HUNTER 11 iii J ""nmfiuhgm H IHIJ 1 I MIWHMWHMI'HW INVENTORS hARLlW RACISDAIL'E. Y ALBERT CID-RAN- B WALTERB. DEAN- ATTORNEY.

Patentecl sept. 23, 1941 RAIL CAR FRONT END CONSTRUCTION Earl J. W. Ragsdale, Norristown', and Albert G.

Dean and Walter B. Dean, Narberth, Pa., assignors to Edward G. Bud-d 'Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application April 13, 1934, Serial No. 720,490

14 Claims.

The invention relates to rail cars and particularly to the front end construction of such cars.

The invention is particularly applicable to high speed rail cars and to one forming the motor unit of a train of articulated such cars, although certain of the features thereof are of more general applicability.

It is among the objects of the invention to a provide a power plant unit in which the mounting for the power plant, the power plant proper and its accessories are arranged in balanced relation to the center of the truck from which the front end of the car is supported. The principal weight being so uniformly distributed on opposite sides and fore and aft of the swivel of the truck insures a steadier operation, and since the truck supporting the power plant is also the driven truck, greater traction, and generally more satisfactory operation than has here tofore been obtained in rail cars of this class.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an underframe for the front of the car which is built as a. unitary structure serving simultaneously a plurality of functions ordinarily divided among a number of separate members. To this end, the underframe for the car over the front truck is built up of fiat plates welded together in their edges to form a unitary structure, which serves not only to form the longitudinal'and transverse strength members of the underframe, the flooring of the power plant compartment, the longitudinal supports for the mo- .covering the motor compartment and extending rearwardly thereof.

A further object of the invention is the formation of the front, side and top walls so as to offer a minimum of resistance to the air flow and toshield the front truck from the air rush, and from the danger ofobstructions on the track reaching and becoming fouled with the truck.

To this, end .the framing and paneling forming the front end are transversely curved through curves of relatively small radius and upwardly and rearwardly inclined and extended down by a pilot extension almost to the rails of the trackway. Thus the air rush adjacent the trackway will be diverted upwardly or laterally, more likely laterally on account of the predominant curvature, and flows easily around the front and along-the stream line paneling rearwardly of the car. The pilot extension extends below the level of the underframe, but at said level, the body is provided with an anti-climbing device extending around the curved front of the body and diverting any solid objects picked up by the pilot laterally of the body and trucks. Thus the front end from pilot to roof is hoof-shaped.

Another object of the invention consists in providing easy accessibility to the motor and easy removal thereof from the body of the car without extensive disarrangement of its accessories or without danger of injury thereto in the removal of the motor.

To this end an opening is provided in one of the walls enclosing the motor compartment and preferably in the roof portion thereof, which opening is of a size afiording ample clearance for lifting the motor and swinging it up through the opening without damage to the body or to the accessories in the motor compartment. To render the motor compartment at the sides of the motor relatively free of accessories, certain of the accessories, such as the radiator and the muffler and exhaust, which are connected to the motor by flexible couplings, are'flxedly connected to a removable roof panel which normally closes the opening. So located they are readily removable as a unit with the removable roof panel, by first disconnecting the flexible couplings to the motor, and are also normally out of the way and permit the cooling air to flow upwardly past the radiator and out through slits arranged at the sides of the muflier and exhaust which has its openings discharge into the air above the roof. These and other objects and advantages and the manner in which they are attained will be made clear from the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof.

In the drawings: I

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the front end of a car according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view thereof.

Figure 3 is a plan view showing the unitary underframe in its balanced relation to the truck pivot with the power plant, drivers seat and control, and other accessories indicated in dotted lines.

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation through the power plant compartment; showing the underframe in central longitudinal section and the power plant and accessories in dotted lines.

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view through the body in the plane of the pivot axis connecting it to the truck, the location of the truck being indicated by the wheels shown in dotted lines, the motor and certain of its accessories being also indicated in dotted lines.

. Figures 6 and 7 are respectively a side elevation and a plan of the side and top framing in the region of the front or power plant compartment; Figure 6 showing the removable roof panel removed and Figure 7 showing it in place with part broken away; in both figures, the outer paneling is omitted.

Figure 8 is an enlarged detail transverse sectional view through the roof framing in the region of the removable panel and approximately on the lines 8-8 of Figure 9 showing the joint between it and the roof sides.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary perspective view of one corner of the removable panel framing.

By reference to Fig. 3 of the drawings, the main underframe of the car body will be seen to extend from a transverse bulkhead ID at the rear of the power plant compartment to the front of the body, and constitutes a unitary base indicated by numeral ll arranged in balanced relation over the front truck l2 (see Figures 1 and 4). As clearly appears from Figures 4 and 5,

this underframe is a unitary structure built up of plates are welded together in their edges to form a more or less cellular structure, openings being provided through and between the plates to afl'ord accessibility for welding and to lighten the structure. This unitary base or underframe afiords a very rigid front end construction and is centrally supported by the relatively large annular bearing l3 on the truck frame, the king pin bolt l4 passing through this bearing and tying the underframe to the truck but permitting relative rotation. The underframe serves not only to form the entire underframe for the body in this region, but also acts as a base to support the power plant. To this end it is provided centrally with longitudinally extending raised beams l which are tied together transversely and reinforced by edge flanges, as I6, and upon these beams the main unit of the power plant, the internal combustion motor I! rests and is secured.

The main elements of the power plant comprise the motor I! and a generator l8 driven therefrom and furnishing the electricity for the motors (not shown) connected in usual manner to drive the wheels of the driving truck [2. These main elements are so disposed longitudinally and transversely of the underframe, that their combined weight is substantially balanced over the king pin I4. In other words, the center of gravity of the underframe II, and power plant is substantially directly over the king pin, thus insuring that the reactions between truck and body in rounding a curve are a minimum, and greatly improving the smoothness of operation. By this arrangement also the weight is evenly distributed to the driving wheels, and by reason of this mass being directly over the driving truck, better traction is had.

At the front the underframe structure is slightly ofiset downwardly and forms the flooring for the operator's compartment I9, Figure 4, and a pocket or pockets 20 opening toward the front and are adapted to house the draft gear and buffer connections. The front end of the underframe II is rounded on a curvature of relatively short radius similar to the contour of the body front and thus acts to take collision shocks and tends to ward off laterally any solid objects in its path.

At the sides (see Figure 5) the underframe H is provided with vertically relatively deep side plates 2| formed with outwardly extending flanges 22 approximately equal to the thickness of the body side wall framing and forming assembly joint structures adapted to secure the body side walls to the underframe. The downwardly extending portions of plates 2| are preferably braced through brackets 23 to the bottom wall of the underframe.

At the central portion of its front the underframe carries a rearwardly and upwardly substantially uniformly inclined collision beam 24, (see Figures 4 and 6) extending substantially to the roof and the upper end of this beam ties into the roof framing and braces the underframe directly to the roof framing.

As most clearly shown in Figures 4, 6, and 7, the framing for the side and top walls of the body in its front region surrounding the engine compartment is formed in known manner by transverse carlines 25 the vertical sides of which form posts and continuous longitudinal members 26 and in the roof region short purlines 21 extending between the carlines. Said members are in the main made of flanged channel section members, closed in some cases by closure plates secured to the edge flanges of the channels to form box sections structures. Where the strength of a box section is not required the paneling or sheathing may be directly secured to the flanges of the channels to close the same and form with the framing in effect a plate girder side and top wall structure. This is particularly true of the paneling in the roof and that extending down to the belt line, (see Figures 1 and 5). Below the belt the paneling 28 consists of concave longitudinal stripsflanged in their edges and secured together in their edges by spot welding and to the post carlines 25 through angle members 29. So formed of hollow section members flanged in their edges, the body side and roof framing may be readily fabricated by rolling the sections from flat strips, may be readily joined in their edges by spot welding, and the paneling may be similarly readily formed and secured in place. To secure the maximum strength with a minimum weight, the body framing and paneling is fabricated substantially throughout of high tensile stainless steel containing in the vicinity 18% chromium and 8% nickel. The 'use of this material not only decreases the weight very materially but avoids the necessity of painting on account of its non-corrosive qualities and natural finish.

The body framing may be further reinforced where desired by diagonal members 30 secured through generous gussets 3| to the transverse and longitudinal members of the framing (see Figure 6), thereby constituting the .body side walls strong load carrying trusses extending from substantially the front end through the region occupied by the unitary underframe and power plant supporting structures and therebeyond toward the rear end of the body, as is evident from the showing in Figs. 1, 3 and 6, the construction of these trusses being generally similar to the disclosure in copending application of Ragsdale and Dean Serial No. 720,650.

In the region of their joinder to the underframing II, the vertical post carlines are interconnected by a deep vertical plate 32 corresponding in depth to the depth of the side plates 2| of the underframe. The plate 32 is inwardly flanged in its top margin at 33 and in the final assembly nests with the angle formed by the flooring of the underframe and the side plate 2| and is rigidly secured thereto substantially throughout the length of the underframe, as indicated by the rivets 34, Figure 5. By this conmeral 35, the framing and paneling of the body sweep forwardly and downwardly on smooth rounded curves, in transverse section, thus pro-. viding an outer surface which easily directs the rush of air upwardly and laterally with relatively small resistance to the forward motion. At the high speeds at which this car or train of cars is adapted to operate, which may reach over 100 milesan hour, such a front construction assumes added importance.

In this front region the roof has a main central frame member 35 which ties into the top of the upwardly extending beam 24 from the underframe thus rigidly connecting the roof structure to the front of the underframe, and

permitting the roof structure to assist in taking collision or other shocks transmitted to the un-' derframe and collision beam 24.

To further improve the stream lining characteristics of the improved front of the car and as clearly shown in Figures 1 and 2, a pilot device 31 extends the substantially uniformly inclined curved front wall of the body downwardly below the underframing to a point in close adjacency to the rails, not more than a few inches thereabove. This pilot device provides a smooth paneling also curved in transverse horizontal section and adapted to take the air rush near the track and divert it upwardly and laterally away from the truck. The pilot device prevents objects on the track from fouling the trucks, since by reason of its strong upward and lateral inclination, such objects would be picked up and thrown laterally of the trucks and body. To more certainly throw such objects struck by the pilot laterally rather than upwardly over the front of the car body, an

anti-climbing device 38 encircles the front of the body at the height of the front of the underframe immediately above the pilot 31. The predominance of the hoof shape from pilot to roof is now apparent.

This hoof-shaped substantially uniformly inclined front of the body is also provided for substantially its entire width, (see Figure 2) with Window openings 39 affording full vision for the pilot-and above said window openings with openings 40, protected by a grating but permitting the air to pass into the front of the body.

The feature of the invention permitting the ready removal of the internal combustion motor from the power plant compartment and the disposal of certain of the motor accessories to permit greater accessibility to the sides of'the motor when mounted on its base will now be described.

As indicated most clearly in Figures 4 and '7, the carlines 25 which normally extend continuously across the roof are discontinuous in the region between the bulkhead l0 defining the rear wall of the power plant compartment and the bulkhead 35 in front of the internal combustion motor separating the motor from the drivers compartment. These discontinuous carlines terminate on longitudinal lines some distance inward of the curved sides of the roof 'and are interconnected by channel edge members 45, (Fig. 8), thus leaving a large rectangular opening 4|, (Figure 6),-directly over the motor I'I, said opening being of a size permitting easy raising of the motor through said opening, when the removable closure 42 shown in position in all of the views, is removed.

This removable closure 42 comprises a unitary section of the roof framing and paneling modi- A water tank 45' connected to the radiator.

by connections 45' and with the motor by a detachable connection not shown, is also fixedly associated and removable with the removable closure unit.

As clearly shown in Figures 5, 6, 8 and 9, the framing for the removable cover comprises two deep central truss beams 41 and two shallow side beams 48, the longitudinal beams being interconnected by transverse beams 49 also of truss form, the connection between the transverse and longitudinal beams forming the interconnection between the top and bottom chords of the transverse beams. The top chords of the transverse beams conform to the curvature of the roof.

To secure the removable roof panel in place, the side beams are provided with outwardly projecting flange extensions 49' which overlap the beams 45along the side edges of the opening 4| and are secured thereto as by bolts 50 (Fig. 8). At the ends the longitudinally extending beams are secured to vertically extending channel section brackets 5| (Fig. 9), which telescope with the beam ends, the brackets being normally secured to the bulkheads Ill and 35 and the beams are removably secured, as by bolting, to the brackets. In Fig. 9 one of these brackets is shown in position for securement to a beam end.

The four longitudinally extending beams 41, 48 have their lower faces in the same plane and spaced hangers 52 are secured there, these hang-- charge orifices of which incline rearwardly and downwardly.

The upper portion of the exhaust pipe projects outside the roof lines and the longitudinal slot 56 in the outer roof paneling in which it is located, but from the edges of which it is slightly spaced, permits the ventilating air entering-the motor compartment through the openings 40 in the front body wall and openings in the bulkhead 35 to flow past the radiator and exhaust pipe and thereby cool the same before passing out through the slot 56.

A trough 51 is arranged between the centra verse beams 49 on the other hand, see Fig. 5.

From the foregoing description, it will be obvious that by disconnecting the detachable connection between the motor accessories mounted on the removable roof panel, and disconnecting the edge fastenings for said panel, the entire assembly may be removed as a unit from the opening 4| and the latter freed for the removal of the motor therethrough. The arrangement of these motor accessories on the removable panel locates them where they are ordinarily out of the way and insures that they will not be injured by the swaying of the motor while it is being swung through the opening.

Reference is made herein to application Serial No. 74,542, Ragsdale et al., for Rail car front end construction, directed to generally similar subject matter but claiming it more specifically, including features, such as the specific reinforcement and bracing of the pilot and the specific bracing of the upper portion of the front end wall to the side frames, not shown herein.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has herein been described, it will be understood that changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention and such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. A rail car comprised of a combined underframe and power plant support extending through a portion only of the length of the car and acting as a principal load support therein and side trusses having chords connected with and extending beyond said combined underframe and power plant support, said combined underframe and power plant support being a relatively massive member and said side trusses having members of relatively light gauge, and a plate structure of intermediate gauge interposed between the relatively massive member and the light gauge truss members and secured thereto for a general stress distribution therebetween.

2. A rail car construction including light gauge sheet metal frame members, a relatively massive underframe member, said underframe member being adapted to take extreme impact and draft loads and distribute them to the light gauge sheet metal members, and an intervening member of intermediate gauge through which joinder of said first two members is made to each other, said intermediate member being fused to said light gauge sheet metal member on the one hand and mechanically. attached to said relatively massive underframe member on the other.

3. A self-propelled rail car having side frame trussesv adapted to carry the main portion of the vertical load of the car body and having an underframe for one end -of the body adapted to serve as a power plant base and provided with a bolster for truck support and a needle beam removed a considerable distance toward the center of the car from said bolster,- the side frame trusses being connected with the underframe through the bolster and needle beam extremities,

a forwardly extending portion on said underframe, and a housing structure for the end of the car on the foremost extension of the underframe, said side frame trusses terminating forwardly of the bolster and means to tie the housing structure to the side frame trusses.

4. A rail car construction including light gauge sheet metal frame members, a relatively massive underframe member, said underframe member being adapted to take extreme impact and draft loads and distribute them to the light gauge sheet metal members, and an intervening member of intermediate gauge through which the joinder of said first two members is made to each other, said intermediate member being spot welded to said light gauge sheet metal member on the one hand and rigidly attached to said relatively massive underframe member on the other.

I 5. In a rail car having a body, an underframe for the front end thereof comprising a unitary structure supporting a power plant, and an upwardly and rearwardly inclined beam attached to the underframe and extending substantially to the roof, said beam being of relatively deep transverse section longitudinally of the body and throughout the major portion of its extent and strongly tied into the underframe, and means above the lower end of the beam attached to the beam and to upper portions of the body whereby collision shocks on said beam will be resisted by both the underframe and the upper portions of the body.

6. A railway vehicle body mounted on wheeled trucks and comprising a front end portion positioned to receive head-on collisions, and also comprising a horizontally disposed underframe having a forward collision resisting portion forming a part of the said front end body portion, said front end body portion extending upwardly from said horizontal underframe a major portion of the distance between said underframe and the top of the body and being divergent rearwardly in a horizontal cross-section for a major portion of the width of the body, said front end portion having a rearward inclination upwardly commencing substantially at said underframe, said front end portion also comprising an upwardly and rearwardly inclined collision beam provided upon said forward underframe portion a 7. A railway vehicle body mounted on wheeled trucks and comprising an air-streamlined front end portion positioned to receive head-on colllsions, and also comprising a horizontally disposed vehicle underframe, said front end body portion extending upwardly from the plane of said horizontal underframe a major portion of the distance between said underframe and the top of the body, and diverging rearwardly in horizontal cross-sections of streamlined form for a major portion of the width of the body, said front end portion having a rearward inclination upwardly commencing substantially at the plane of said underframe, said underframe having its forward end heavily reinforced longitudinally and transversely to support a power plant, and so reinforced extended forwardly to meet and form a part of said front end portion substantially throughout its rearwardly divergent cross-section in the plane of the underframe, whereby to suptogether with an upwardly and rearwardly in-.

tending from a horizontal region vertically above the trucks a major part of the distance between the trucks and the top of the body, said front being divergent rearwardly in horizontal crosssection a major portion of the width of the body, and throughout the specified vertical extent has rearward inclination upwardly,,said front comprising a horizontally disposed underframe portion which supports and braces against collisions the lower part of said collision front, and a vertically extending massive collision beam structure founded on said underframe portion supporting and bracing said collision front, and constructed and arranged to resist collision shocks upon that portion of said front upwardly of the underframe, said rearwardly divergent and upwardly inclined collision front being extended directly downwardly at approximately the same divergence and inclination to take the place of the conventional pilot, and also being supported and braced by said underframe portion.

9. A railway vehicle body mounted on wheeled trucks and provided with a collision front extending from a horizontal region vertically above the trucks a major part -of the distance between the trucks and the top of the body, said front being divergent rearwardly in horizontal crosssection a major portion of the width of the body, and throughout the specified vertical extent has rearward inclination upwardly, said front comprising a horizontally disposed underframe portion which supports and braces against collisions the lower part of said collision front, and a vertically extending massive collision beam structure founded on said underframe portion supporting and bracing said collision front, and constructed and arranged to resist collision shocks upon that portion of said front upwardly of the underframe, said rearwardly divergent and upwardly inclined collision front being directly extended upwardly clination, and the rearwardly divergent crosssection resembling in form a cross-section of a segment of a cylinder and being at the top merged into a segment of a sphere.

10. A rail car structure comprising a unitary and relatively massive underframe structure serving as the body underframirig and power plant base and having means for direct mounting on a truck, the sides of said underframe structure being provided with vertically deep side sill portions, and body side walls comprising trusses having spaced light-weight post members .at approximately the same divergence and ininterconnected at their lower ends by a vertically deep plate of heavier gauge than the post members and welded thereto, said plate overlapping the vertically deep side sill portions of the underframe through a depth not less'than the depth of the main body of the underframe, said plate being rigidly secured to the said vertically deep side sill portions throughout a substantial portion of the length of said underframe.

11. A collision resisting structure for a light weight rail car, which comprises an underframe,

, a forwardly projecting bumper portion extending fromand integral with said underframe, a pilot below said bumper portion and a truss type body above said underframe, the foremost portion of said body, bumper portion of the underframe and pilot being of generally rounded surface in hori zontal plan and upwardly and having a substantially continuous rearwardly inclined surface from bottom to roof whereby a steep blunt warding-oif surface is presented which is integrated with the underframe. v

12. A light weight rail car tractor unit construction, the front end of which includes a power plant supporting frame, said frame having an integral transversely curved front bumper portion, a curved Pilot below the bumper portion,

and secured thereto, a transversely curved body portion above the bumper, the body portion, bumper and pilot having a substantially continuous oblique cylindrical surface which is upwardly and rearwardly inclined.

13. In a truss type light weight high speed rail car having a self-contained power plant, a collision front construction which comprises a car underframe and power plant support member having longitudinal supports adapted to support the power plant and having a'forwardly projecting relatively blunt extremity, a truss type body above and to the rear of the underframe including posts rigidly secured to the underframe, the

foremost post being relatively deep and rearwardly inclined from the vertical, and a pilot below the blunt extremity of the underframe and secured thereto, said construction having a generally curved shape in horizontal plan from bottom to top of the rail car, said pilot, underframe extremity and body being of substantially continuous angular relation to a vertical plane.

14. A rail car structure comprising a unitary underframe structure serving as a body underframe and power plant base, said underframe being provided with vertically deep side sill portions, a body side wall comprising a light weight truss having spaced post members, a vertical deep plate interconnecting said post members at their lower ends, said plate overlapping the vertically deep side sill of the underframe through a depth not less than the depth of the main body of the, I

derframe, said pilot means being a light weight truss.

EARL J. W. RAGSDALE. ALBERT G. DEAN. WALTER B. DEAN. 

